Ajman Kempinski Hotel & Resort

We stayed at the Kempinski for a long weekend in March 2009 and were very happy with the experience.

The renovations to the lobby mentioned in previous reviews are completed and the refurbishments are spectacular. We were greeted well and offered a complimentary upgrade to an executive room, even though we had paid for a standard room. The room was decorated beautifully and all rooms have a stunning view off the balcony to the Gulf. We were on the top floor at one of the ends of the building so the room was very quiet, which would not be the case if you were on a lower floor above the pool area. The bathroom did look a little tatty, with the enamel chipped off the bath, but was nice and clean.

We ate at the Chinese restaurant at the hotel where the food was quite pricey (standard here in the UAE) but very tasty, and they served pork. The breakfast buffet was good and we could sit outside on the lovely terrace.

The pool and beach facilities were lovely, although the pool attendants were a little slow in removing towels, and we found it hard to find a spot by the pool, as we weren't sure whether the towels over chairs were there by people using the pool or if they had been abandoned by their owners who had left. The poolside rooms would be great for families with kids but would be noisy and there is little privacy.

We went to the bowling alley where the drinks and games were reasonable, so we were pleasantly surprised. We were also keen to use the golf/tennis facilities but equipment was fairly expensive to hire, so we didn't in the end.

Ajman is a fair way from Dubai so if you are a tourist hoping to get out and about to see the Emirates it is not ideal, but if you want a peaceful location with clean sea water (which you don't get in Dubai), in a decent distance from Dubai for a couple of day trips, this is a good spot.

After several business trips to russia ,which entailed stays in unsmiling hotels , it was indeed a relief to have a holiday in our favourite hotel where all the staff have smiles and cheerful greetings for all the guests! The more i travel ,the more i realise this hotel is a real gem from so many points of view. Speaking of viewpoints, every room in the hotel has a splendid view over the Gulf, a lovely backdrop for a sundowner on the balcony. The sandy beach is superb and it is carefully tended; there is almple room for everyone. The sea is ideal for swimming and there is a lifeguard on duty to ensure safety. The gardens are is extensive and meticulously maintained. One final point: the excellent buffet breakfast starts at 6.30am - ideal for 'early birds'. I thought of this particularly when i stayed at the business

hotel Sibir in Novosibirsk where the breakfast did not begin until 7.30...you can imagine the press of people when the doors opened......

Well done Ajman Kempinski; here s to the next time!

Having booked a break in Dubai with Opodo I took a chance and booked this hotel as part of a secret hotel deal. When I looked it up on Trip Advisor I was confronted with renovation work and prostitutes.

Ok here goes paid £1000 for four nights and flights at the hotel. The taxi fare from Dubai airport was 50 dirhams or 200 in the hotels own Audi A8. welcome drink upon. no signs of any renovation work at all. We had arrived on a morning flight so packed swimming costumes in our hand luggage so we could take advantage of the wonderful beach until our room was ready at 2pm. The room was a deluxe with sea view and was very clean and comfortable. Previous comments about the bathrooms are justified but by no means as bad as some made out.. We ate at the Indian restaurant and the Chinese restaurant in the hotel. The Indian was wonderful the best I've ever had. Service was equally good and very attentive. After dinner we had a drink in one of the bars which offered live music. The only downside was the smoking and the Ex pat community in there. Due to no alcohol I assume they gather to drink and dance most nights (every night we were there) imagine your dad at a wedding dancing and you get the idea. Yes some of the girls looked like they were working but my wife didn't notice so it wasn't too apparent and didin't affect the evening.

Next day we took the free bus service into Dubai which took 35mins but this was on a Friday and the following day it took 90 mins but it had poured down all night and many roads were flooded. We eventually ended up at the Burj al Arab and took the 50Km journey back to the hotel for just £20.

In summary I would recommend the hotel despite its location from Dubai and it was a lot cheaper than many others. As for Dubai there was no litter,no graffitti, no chewing gum on the floor ,no dog sh*t, no football shirts on show just wonderful shopping malls with room to walk around in comfort and families enjoying themselves TRY IT

I stayed here for 1 night because I wanted to dive in Adjman and the Ukranian run Blue Planet Dive Center (provides great service) operates from the hotel premises.

The hotel buiding is the nicest in a pretty grubby looking town. Lobby has just been redone and is cavernous and a bit cold (white marble& chandeliers) and over the top for my liking (except for the frankinsence burning in the evenings which is wonderful) but the rooms are very stylish with functionality blending well with Arab decors.

I had booked a double room for two by accident and when I showed up alone the receptionsist downgraded me to a single room and gave me the only room w/o internet access w/o asking me whether I needed to use this, which I really didn't appreciate. This was quickly rectified, however. But note that everything in this hotel is very expensive. Cable internet access is 100 Dirhams per 24 hours.

Unlike other reviewers, my bathroom was fine. The only problem was there was no hairdryer as advertised.

Balconies are lovely and overlook a wonderful beach, but there is no rain drain, so the balcony stays under water when it rains.

The Indian restaurant was terrific. Note there is a dress code in the indoor restaurants (men must wear slacks).

Most of the guests in this hotel are older well healed German or Russian guests. (In the morning you get German news sumaries under your door.) It's not really a child friendly place and I felt guilty dripping my scuba gear through the lobby.

We stopped at the hotel to break th journey back from India. Having visited Dubai a number of times we were a bit fed up of the traffic and building around Jumeirah so tried this for a change. We were extremely impressed with everything about the place (except the state of the bathrooms which need a refurb).

The food in the Italian rstaurant was excellent., as was the Chinese. We stayed in the executive club where the lounge offered complimentary drinks and snacks. This was nice but probably not worth the extra cost.

The drop in the value of the pound meant everything was even more expensive but not unexpectedly so and you can save a fortune by using the Duty Free shop in arrivals for spirits/wine

We were a party of two adults and a 12 year old boy. Yes there were building works but you could avoid them very easily. Beach is fantastic with very comfortable sun loungers. Restaurants and room service were very good. K club more like a dining room than lounge but nevertheless a nice place to spend happy hour especially sitting on one of the two balconies watching the fabulous sunsets. We found the K lounge staff friendly, attentive and very generous with the old gin and tonics. We were invited to the management cocktail party twice but only attended once. We enjoyed meeting the Executive Housekeeper who had many amusing tales to tell about the hotel trade. Yes there were a few niggles but on the whole I thought it was a lovely hotel and we would certainly return.

This Hotel is great, it's complete luxory. The rooms are lovely big and comfortable, beautifully decorated. We stayed here for 5 nights in September, we used it as a stopover after visiting Japan . The staff are pleasant and very helpful. The beach is beautiful. There are a number of restaurants in the hotel and are all good particularly the Italian and the Indian. We had breakfast included and it was also very good with plenty of choice. I would recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Dubai.

After reading some of the reviews already on this site, it was with trepidation we landed in Dubai.

It was fabulous! The hotel is great. As like alot of people we had an executive room with access to the K Lounge. This is great and we never found it over crowded, the service was always great. The rooms are delightful, every night fresh fruit and water bought to the room. The most heavenly beds.

We actually only left the hotel once to travel into Dubal, this was due to not needing to, we were happy to stay by the pool all day long. The only annoying thing was people reserving beds but not coming back to them. The staff were always happy to help find a bed for you though. Staff at the polside were very friendly especially Jit!!!

Travel into Dubai was just as crazy as you read about. Leave plenty of time to get anywhere, but the taxis are cheap as chips. Its about 50 minutes to the Mall Of Emirates which has all the shops from home - quite bizarre!!! Not loads cheaper but we were there when there some sales s got a few bits.

Food was very varied in the restaurants. We tried the buffet which changes every night, the chinese, Itaian and Indian. My husband didnt enjot the Indian but I thought it was quite unique. No cutlery was given but they did give you an apron instead!!! Service charges really upped the cost of eating, but it wasnt extortionate.

we plan to return very soon

We have just returned from 2 outstanding weeks holiday at the Ajman Kempinski. This is our fifth visit to this particular hotel and was as good as the first. The standard of cleanliness and courtesy is above reproach and the location is first-class,with Dubai only 45 minutes away by the courtesy coach.

The restautants in the hotel are outstanding with Sabella's (Italian) and Cafe Kranzler (European) being our favourites. If you are staying at Club level, the K Club provides a relaxing environment for soft drinks and nibbles throughout the day and alcoholic drinks between 1700-1900. This represents excellent value for money and is well worth while.

During our visit, the main reception area was being uprated. However, very little impact was felt by this renovation activity either by day or night. The hotel is to be congratulated on it's sensitive handling of the situation which will be completed by October.Simply put, the renovations made no difference to the level of service or our holiday.

Like all kempinski hotels i have visited this is just gorgeous. Its nice to be away a bit from the centre of Dubai but just 10 mins taxi ride away. It has a fabulous private beach,and a more laid back atmosphere than the hotels in Dubai.

Its great for visiting the market at Sharjah also.

My husband and i stayed at the Kempinski Hotel Ajman in Feb 08 we found the hotel to be absolutely fantastic, the service we received was amazing. The cleanliness of the rooms, the hotel and the beach were impeccable. The sea view from all rooms is great. The beach was peaceful and tranquil unlike other beaches. The rooms were decorated with great style with plenty of space inside. The buffet breakfast was vast with something for everyone. If you have children they would love the bowling, the pool and the calm sea waters. I would recommend this hotel to anyone that is after a relaxing time with the option of the hustle and bustle of Dubai only 40 minutes away. The hotel was also able to organise day trips and excursions. Both our trips were amazing, we did the dessert safari a fantastic experience and we also took a dhow cruise down the dubai creek with buffet and music included. The only complaint i have about our holiday was having to come home. I would definately return to this hotel again and next time i will definately bring the children.

I just came back from a one week stay at the kempinski ajman with my wife and my son (5 years old). It was our third stay ine the EAU (Jebel ali hotel in 2003, and Meridien Al Aqah in 2005). Those three hotels are of the same level for me. Very quiet (may be it's not true anymore for the jebel ali because of the buildings ?), with a wonderful beach and a wonderful restaurant. We are french, so the restaurant is important ! The buffet (morning and evening at the kempinski are really great). Ther's so many thngs that even a small child can find something to eat (and it was free for the child !). There is a feeling of serenity. All the waiters are nice, everybody cres about you. The room (n°411) was nice. The bathroom seems a little bit oldfashionned, but i say thaht just to say something bad about the place. It's a reaaly nice place to be if you want a sunny , calm place at the begginning of the fall or winter. Of course it's not as luxuous as some others hotels in Dubai (We had one night at mina salam madinat jumeirah at he end of the stay and it's another planet !) but the prise is not the same either !

If you can, just do as we did. one week here, and after one or two nights in mina a salam to finish your stay in dubai.

We loved it here! We stayed for 6 nights and sampled all of the restaurants apart from the buffet one. The bowling alley is also great fun!

The pool area was lovely and clean, staff came around with cold towels and fruit as it was sooooo hot when we were there(46!) they also did this on the beach. The sea is stunning, just as nice as the carribean but warmer! like a bath!

We upgraded to a leisure club room that was gorgeous with a balcony over looking the pool and the sea. We found it cheaper to book the hotel through last minute.com and the flights separately through Virgin.

Some reviewers on this site were complaining about the price of food/water and service charge but its just London prices! We were having a big breakfast (included in our room rate) and as we had access to the K lounge from 4 we then had a little tea before having dinner about 9ish.The K lounge was great as it has internet access, tv, Timeout and little nibbles and drinks free from 4-7.

We went into Dubai on 2 occasions. The first time we went at 5ish and it only took 30mins with no traffic as it was a wednesday, to the emirates mall which has all of the shops you would find on the high street inc Harvey Nics etc.Look out for the indoor skiing!!!! We then got a taxi to The one and only royal mirage and went to the Eau Zone restaurant which was nice and romantic, then we jumped into a taxi and went to the Jurmiah emirates tower and the Vu bar on the 51st floor!! great for cocktails!

The second time we went into Dubai we asked the hotel to make a reservation for us for the Bateaux Dubai. This is a gorgeous floating glass boat that goes along the creek. They picked us up by taxi and dropped us back again at the end of the night. That night was very romantic, the food was beautiful and service exceptional.I would recommend this restaurant to everyone going to Dubai. Beware though, we went on a friday night at 7ish traffic was like the M25 all the way! Took about 1hr and a half! But I didnt mind it as the cabs have air con and there are great sights to see at night, Boyfriend did'nt though!!!

We would definately love to go back to Ajman as it is away from the well built up and commercialised Dubai, but near enough to enjoy the great restaurants and bars!!! We would also go back to this hotel as we always want good customer service, good food and good hotel rooms and we will complain if we are not happy,but we loved it here!! Perfect!

Enjoy! x

This was our 2nd year in a row staying in this hotel...the proof is in the pudding really! Great customer service.Beautiful rooms recently renovated.30 min drive to Dubai but taxis are cheap so dont let this put you off and also a comp bus 3 timeas a day to Dubai.The beach is the selling point.So quiet and no cranes like in Dubai.What a hotel.Its highly recommended if you dont mind being a bit away from the city.The hotel has enough to keep you occupied.The Italian restaurant is high quality and the Miatre d a credit to the place.The Indian is ok if you like just meat!! The Chinese is nice enough and there are 2 bars and a spa.Will return

Second time going and second time impressed.A fantastic place for whatever you want to do.Close to Dubai but far enough away so you dont have to see its cranes.Loved every moment of it again,brilliant service from all concerned,good food,great sheesha,fantastic beach and just all round brilliant.My one complaint is that i did not book myself in longer but thats my fault.Cant wait to return as its one of my favourite places to go in the world.A true gem that you will treasure.Great memories will be made and forged forever

The hotel is just FAB!!! We stayed for a 3 night break but it most definately was not long enough. The staff are superb and tend to your every need. As the hotel sits outside of Dubai, you are away from the dust & building works that are everywhere in Dubai. A short car journey (approx 1/2 in off-peak time - 1 1/2 in peak time!!) wll take you into the heart of Dubai.

The hotel is sat on a corner of the most wonderful private beach.

We are definately going to come back with our children next time as the hotel has a kids club and a nice childrens pool too.

Food is fab too!!

There was some works being done to some upper level rooms but we only heard this once and it was not intrusive.

Well worth a visit

We stayed with out five month old daughter and we had an excellent time. We stayed in one of the pool side cabana rooms, which was great as the baby monitor worked all around the poolside so we could spend a few hours by the pool when our daughter was sleeping in the room. The room itself was nice and functional for our purposes. The cabana rooms do not have a bathtub so instead the hotel provided us with a baby bathtub.

Service was great. The pool side team work really hard and always have a smile. Was really impressed when one of them asked if we wanted pureed fruit to feed our daughter. We were not able to dine in the hotel restaurants but instead they served us anything from the menu in our room. The food in the Indian restaurant was fantastic – ate from there on three nights. The café on the first floor has a nice selection of food including pizzas though the service was not on par with the rest of the hotel and remember to ask for the pizza menus as they never bring them out. Again our baby monitor worked here.

There is not much to do in Ajman – it has a small shopping mall with a big supermarket; a number of other stores; an amusement area and an eating area. A taxi from the hotel will take you about 10 mins and cost about AED12.

Two gripes about the place:

1. During our stay hotel security was checking people’s bags (especially plastic ones) for food and drinks. The hotel did not want people to bring water, coke etc. from outside. Ok I understand that the hotel wants to do business but checking bags was a bit too much. May want to consider reducing prices and not charging 15% service charge.

2. There is a 15% service charge every time you order anything including on the room rate, as we booked directly from the hotel. I was not sure if this money was actually distributed to the staff who actually served us.

Tip for parents with very young children – this is a great hotel for kids and ask for a cabana room – you will get some time to yourself when baby is sleeping not too far away.

was

We have just come back from a 9 night stay at the Ajman Kempinski. We found the hotel to offer excellent service - the staff cannot do enough for you and are polite and helpful at all times, though be aware that you need to tip, usually about 10-20AED when they bring your room service or carry your bags up or down to the room.

We upgraded to the Executive Club Rooms on the 8th floor, which had a beautiful view of the beach, pool and palm gardens below. The only minor gripe with the room was that the air con was noisy and the duvet was excessively thick so even when the AC was on, we were too hot at night.

The service in the K Lounge was fantastic - the girl working there remembered our names, drinks and was without fail friendly and pleasant. You get free wireless internet access (be aware that it's not secured so wouldn't recommend accessing bank or email sites), free newspapers and nibbles such as pita bread, fruit, houmous, cakes, nuts etc. If you're vegetarian, check what some of the hors d'ouvres are first as many contain meat or fish.

We used the bowling alley and gym quite often, both are excellent, though the gym seems to get quite busy around 4pm and note that the sauna and steam room are male or female only at certain times of the day.

The hotel restaurants are good, Sarbella's, the Italian offers a wide variety of tasty dishes, though some are a tad pricey. We didn't find the Chinese restaurant to be particularly good, but maybe they had an off night. The first floor cafe has great snacks and small meals and is open for drinks and shisha in the evening. There is also a poolside snack bar.

The beach is lovely and has lots of loungers, though not enough umbrellas to go round, especially when many people go out early to put their towels on them, even if they don't use them later in the day. Many hotels discourage this and remove towels if they remain vacant after 2 hours and it would be nice if the Kempinski could do this too. Temperatures were around 28 degrees every day, though on the beach it can get quite breezy.

We got the minibus to Dubai one day for shopping - the traffic is shocking so don't expect to get there in a hurry. The taxi back was unfortunately during rush hour and took almost 2 hours, though the driver was lovely and gave us a commentary on all the building work and local customs which was interesting. Don't get the unlicensed minicabs at the airport - there is an excellent taxi rank with a man who controls the queue to prevent queue jumping and even if the queue looks massive it moves quite quickly because there are loads of taxis. Don't bother hiring a car - the traffic is so bad that it's a complete waste of time. We also found that not everything is cheaper in the shops in Dubai, so don't assume you will save stacks of cash. Make-up, perfume and clothes are very similar prices to the UK.

Like the previous reviewer, we were told that Ajman is undergoing a redevelopment scheme in the future, so this lovely quiet hotel may not remain so. The building work in Dubai cannot be emphasized enough - it really is everywhere.

We would definitely return to this hotel in the future.

Just returned from a ten-day stay at the Kempinski Ajman.

What a great holiday! Husband and myself travelled with our two year old daughter.

We found everyone working at this at this hotel to be polite and genuinely friendly.

The food was great, not a huge selection of restaurants considering you are not terribly close to Dubai, however, we enjoyed a few meals in all of the restaurants and experienced good food and service.

The only place where service was just average was the Cafe on First, however it seemed that this was a cafe that was more popular with the locals rather than guests.

The beach was gorgeous and you never felt crowded - although the hotel is very popular with Russians/Ukrainians, many of whom like to place their sun loungers right beside your one on an almost empty beach!

We put our daughter (Sophie) into the Kempi kids club for a couple of hours in the morning. It is set up like a small crèche and really well maintained. Sophie was mad about Mercy, who ran the club so well.

We upgraded our room and unlike a previous reviewer found it totally worth the money. We never had a problem getting service in the K lounge and it was great to be able to pop in during the day to get a piece of fruit as a quick snack for Sophie.

One thing that was unexpected and really appreciated was that we were given baby bath products in our room as well as a mini pair of slippers and a bathrobe for Sophie.

Would definitely recommend this hotel for families. If you are looking to go out a lot at night you are probably better off in Dubai.

We went shopping in Dubai a couple of afternoons, which was great as we were there for the shopping festival. Apart from that we also went to the Blue Souk in Sharjah that is worth a visit just to see the building.

We didn't eat outside for the hotel as there is not much going on around the Ajman area.

Overall the best resort hotel we have stayed at in a long time. I am a bit picky about customer service was it was such a pleasant surprise to have my expectations consistently exceeded.

I am just back from a week staying at this hotel with my mum and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

ALL staff at the hotel are very polite, respectful and speak perfect English. Actually, the staff couldn't do enough for us! The concierge booked a day trip for us very efficiently and the steward in the Executive Lounge was extremely helpful and polite.

The rooms are nicely presented and the vast majority have a seaview. All of the restaurants served great, high class food, especially the Italian restaurant. The beach is very clean and has the whitest, softest sand you could ever imagine. The sea is also extremely clean and very clear - and warm!

The hotel runs a courtesy bus which goes to Bank Street in Sharjah, then the Blue Souk also in Sharjah, Deira City Centre Mall and then the Gold Souk in Dubai. We used it a couple of times and found it very useful.

The only slight problem with this hotel is the journey into Dubai. In good traffic it is 30 mins, but Dubai has a major traffic problem and at times it took 1hr 30 mins. If you intend to travel into Dubai every day, this hotel is probably not for you, but if like us, you plan to travel there a couple of times and spend the rest of your time doing other things, this is a fantastic place to stay.

I have read many reviews about this hotel so I thought I would add mine. I have lived in the UAE for 2 years and have joined the Kempinski hotel Gym and Pool and I regularly eat there. Guests sometimes stay there when coming to visit me. The hotel has excellent service, the Gym is good with new equipment, the beach and pool facilities are clean. There is a pool bar and a small pool for children. The restaurants are good quality and good value for money. Taxis from the hotel are more expensive- cross the road to get a normal taxi. They will try and rip you off as you have come out of the hotel- haggle with them. It should cost 10AED to Sharjah (15 at most!) and about 25- 30 AED to Deira, Dubai and about 70-80 AED to Jumeirah. Traffic can be hell- try to avoid going to Dubai in the morning before 10 am or returning between 5 and 9- its better to find a bar than sit in hours of traffic jams. There are tours run from the Kempinski- however, if you go to the hotel shop and buy a copy of Time out you can find other tour operators doing the same things for less money. Time out also gives a comprehensive nightlife guide to Dubai.

Bar prices are reasonable in the Kempinski- however, if you take a walk over the road and head towards the marina you will find the "hole in the wall". This is the local off license and you can purchase spirits at very low prices (e.g. vodka 25 AED). If you take a taxi 5 minutes (5AED) down the road there is a bar called "The outside inn". This is worth going to if you fancy a change from the hotel bars.

If you are on a one or two night stop over to see Dubai then the Kempinski is not ideal- however if you want a relaxing break in an excellent hotel then the Kempinski is perfect- its close enough to Dubai to see all the main attractions and it has the best hotel beach in the UAE. Ajman is also close to Sharjah and about one or two hours from Fujairah.

Places to see in Sharjah: The Central souq (also called the blue souq) - good for carpets and gold and general gift items. The old souq, the museum, Buhaira corniche (you can take a boat trip over the lagoon prices vary depending on length of trip).

Places to see on the way to Fujairah: Snorkeling at snoopy Island, The Friday Markets near Masafi.

Overall the Kempinski is an excellent resort.

We booked this Hotel because we wanted quiet and Peaceful, glad we did Dubai, especially Jumeirah, is one vast building site.

They claim to have over 20% of all the worlds high cranes and I believe them. Arrival was late in the evening and we were greeted cordially with cold juice drink and towel. Check in procedures were quick and we were then taken to our room, an executive club room on the sixth floor. Room was good sized with a nice bathroom area and had a king sized bed. It was also blessed with efficient Air Conditioning, you will need it. Next morning we noted that the carpet in the room had been burned in several places by people leaving Irons on it, hardly the Hotels fault.. The rooms in this Hotel are being updated and upgraded and work was ongoing during our stay but was not obtrusive and it did not spoil our enjoyment. We had booked half board and you are given tickets which you can use in any Restaurant as payment or part payment for your meal. They could be used for either lunch or Dinner also. We ate in all the Restaurants and we enjoyed them all but in honesty the Italian and Chinese were I think our favourites.

Outside the amenities were in good order and were kept spotlessly clean. The Pool was well used and the water was about 37C, it even felt warm, the Pool bar was busy and we enjoyed good service here, Thank you Jit All of the staff were welcoming and hard working and were always willing. The Beach was cleaned at least twice daily, rubbish removed etc and there was a service buggy, you simply put up a service required flag and he came to you. On the one day I had a beer from him he decided it was not cold enough and went up to the Pool bar to get colder ones thats what I call service. Nice grounds with Peacocks wandering etc and some nice resident local birds, again all were well kept and tended.

We were there during the world cup so the World Cup bar was busy and the scores were posted on a Notice Board the next morning.

We went into Dubai and did the Big Bus tour, Dubai City is busy and touristy and again was a building site. We also did the Desert Safari and got Rafiqu as our driver, great fun he enjoys his dune driving and is good at it, nice Barbeque dinner and great belly dancing, ( even me with my great belly.)

All in all a restful and enjoyable twelve days, now is probably not the greatest time to visit it was very hot 46C some days and it is off season, this though does get you some bargains. We also had use of the K lounge and used to retire there about midday for coffee and water and then again between 5pm and 7pm for Aperetifs and Hors Douvres. all again served with a smile. We drank the white wine on offer there an Australian one, Penfolds, and it came cold in iced glassses, Nice !!, thanks Ali and Albert. Lastly our thanks to Lyn the Executive Housekeeper for her friendly manner and her sorting abilities. it was all much appreciated and somewhat tongue in cheek by me.

Overall a good holiday in a nice Hotel, O.K. it does not enjoy the touches of a City 5 star hotel but this is a very good beach resort and as such probably deserves its five stars, we would certainly return here.,

Arrived around midnight with no bags {Air France thought it wuld be great to keep them in Paris}. Got greted from reception with cold towels and drinks whilst registering......nice touch. Room was not to our liking having separate beds when we had requested in May when we booked for a double, this wasnt a problem and was rectified next morning when our luggage arrived. Excellent beach and facilities including a guy riding up and down as beach service delivering water and various foods. Loads of sunbeds and shades and lots of space for everyone, nice to watch the boats arriving and departing down the side of the hotel as this is the main route into the harbour behind.

Plenty of restaurants with the breakfast buffet at the cafe kransla being of high note. The service is outstanding and the staff just can not do enough throught the hotel this includes the room service and cleaning towels were changed twice a day and water and chocolates brought in in the evening. As we were there over New Year we had the fantastic firework display and on NY Day everyone was even brought a piece of cake to there rooms.

We did have one cause for complaint and that was an outside party set up on the lawns with a huge disco/pa system, it started at midnight......yes midnight...and we were literally thrown out of our 5th floor bed, one swift call to the manager and the sound was turned down to an acceptable level.

All in all would definitely go back for a relaxing week in the sun and would recommend to everyone.

Myself and my partner stayed in the Kempinski for 6 days in November. The hotel itself was amazing. On the day we arrived, the airline had lost our luggage so we got a taxi to our hotel after reporting our luggage missing. we arrived at the hotel at 7am and check in wasn't until 2pm. The staff were amazing and let us go for breakfast and then got us a room on the top floor (upgraded free of charge) before 10am! The staff then helped us get our luggage back (after 2.5 days!)

The facilities at the hotel were great. there is plently of restaurants and good bars. there was plently to do during the day or at night. we could have just stayed at the hotel the whole visit. there is a free shuttle bus from the hotel into dubai city centre which is great although quite long (about an hour in the traffic).

Myself and my partner had never been to dubai before and weren't sure where the best place to stay was. I was anxious when we arrived but i would definately go back there. ajman is a lovely place and it was so relaxing and peaceful. when we went to dubai for the day, it was full of building works and we wanted to get away from city life for a few days so ajman was definately the right place. also if you get a taxi (be careful because there are con men who say they are taxis and then rip you off) then it only takes about 25 minutes to get from the hotel to dubai city centre.

We were interested in the jeep safari trip and teh hotel booked this for us. it was great value (i think it was about £40 each) but everything is included. we were told that there would be a BBQ which we thought to ourselves would be horrible but it was lovely!! there was also entertainment - a belly dancer, camel rides and sand buggies! it was definately the highlight of the holiday.

There is absoultely no negatives about this hotel - you couldn't get any better!!

also all the rooms and balconys overlook the hotel's private beach - what a bonus!!

Just come back from our second visit, and just as good as the first time, I love the place, as its wonderful for chilling out, so clean, pool, beach were spotless, hardly any children, only the odd one, and they were no trouble.

The staff are the best I have ever experienced, cant do enough for you, and always smiling considering they work so hard.

The traffic is horrendous to go to dubai city, but to be honest I went there, and didnt impress me much, I prefer sharjah (blue souk) for my shopping, and much cheaper than dubai city, and not as far, no drinking in sharjah, but can drink as much as you want in 'ajman or dubai'

You must try 'desert safari' with 'Orient Tours' book them thru the hotel, they are one of the cheapest, and what an experience, from dune driving, to sand sliding, camel riding, and the campsite at the end, its a fantastic experience.

If you book, ask for 'Raffic' he's the driver that takes you over the dunes, and he is brilliant.

If your prone to being sick, or have a dodgy back, then dont go, but its amazing.

if you want real excitment then book into a dubai city hotel,but for chilling, relaxing, excellent service, great food etc, then go to the ajman kempinski, cant wait to go back next year.

I stayed in the resort hotel in May,

First class and cannot be faulted

excellent beach, hotel and wonderfull staff

truly the gem of the emirates!

cant wait to return

We stayed in the Kempinski from October 16th to October 26th, 2008.

We loved our stay.

Found the staff so friendly and helpful.

There is work going on in the hotel, especially in the lobby area and around the pool. While this did not really bother us, I would like to have seen the lobby area after the work was completed, purely because I think it will be really nice.

I agree with another review on here, that the bathrooms are looking a bit tired, with saying that, the room and bathroom were thoroughly cleaned every day.

Had a small problem getting internet access in the room, which was sorted out after one day, however, as a goodwill gesture, we were offered a free meal in the restaurant of our choice in the hotel, which i was very impressed with.

The hotel is quite a way outside of Dubai, however, there is a free bus service to and from Dubai approx 4 times per day. Takes about an hour on the bus to get to Dubai.

Overall, I really enjoyed our stay here and would definitely go back to this hotel again

Regards

Kate

Myself and my girlfriend had a 12 night stay at the Ajman Kempinski as we were wanting to sample the city life of Dubai and also enjoy the relaxtion of a beach holiday. As we had no expectations, we found that the hotel suited our needs, although be prepared for up to 2hrs in a taxi if commuting to Dubai during peak times.

We booked a leisure room on the 7th floor which gives great views over the beach, access to the lounge with free alcoholic beverages between 5 & 7, free nibbles and free internet access (the connection was not secure so be warned).

As we were staying for more than 7 nights we had complimentary pick up and drop off from the airport. We were welcomed on both trips by a smart young man driving a really fancy Audi A8. This took a lot of the usual airport collection stress out of the trip.

Overall we had no complaints about the hotel service. It was unfortunate that we were visiting when there were renovations going on, but the hotel has to keep the standards high on some guests are going to see this at some point. Once they are finished I think the hotel will look stunning.

The restaurants were really nice but I'm sure you could tire of the menus if dining in the hotel every night on a longer stay. We dined in all the restaurants 6 times during our stay and they cater well for vegitarians also.

The shuttle bus is very handy but only takes you to the north side of Dubai creek. It drops off and picks up at Diera shopping mall and the Dubai Gold Souk, both of which were very interesting. If you were wanting to visit Sheikh Zayedh road or Jumeriah then a taxi would be required.

Speaking of taxis, we found them very cheap. One of the local drivers, Daniel, who operates from the hotel was very useful. Due to the location of the hotel, Dubai taxi drivers are reluctant to drive to Ajman and get stuch in traffic on the way back. Daniel told us that he could take us into Dubai, wait for us and take us back to the hotel when we were finished. We went to the Mall of the Emirates one afternoon and the taxi cost us 12 pounds each way and approx 5 pounds per hour waiting. A small price to pay for piece of mind.

The beach was excellent and well looked after. The sea was clear and clean and very nice to swim in. Norbert was very good too with his refreshments buggy going up and down the beach all day.

All in all, a great resort if you want to enjoy a mix of city life and the relaxation of a beach retreat. At the cost of long taxi rides into Dubai.

Another point, the renovations for the hotel's 10th Anniversary should be finished by the end of the year.

Chose this hotel for a few days break on the way to India from the UK-we had stayed here before as a preference to the building work in Dubai.It is 25 miles from Dubai by road but quicker to get to/from the airport than the Dubal beach hotels.

Chose executive room for the private lounge benefits and were not disappointed with newspapers,pc access,cocktail hour and tea/coffee/soft drinks all day. Decent canapes at cocktail hour watching the sunset.

Do not be tempted into booking the cheaper Cabana family rooms with pool access.There is no privacy as your balcony/windows are open to everyone and the pool toilet and changing rooms are in the centre of the block with the cleaners trolley parked permanently outside some of the rooms and all of the rooms having outside constant traffic of guests walking too and from the facilities from the pool.

The hotel is 10 years old and whilst in a fabulous position with its own 500m beach it is starting to show its age and some refurbishment is taking place although only the shopping arcade was sectioned off on our visit on the 10th October.(much better than mentioned in previous reviews)

Clientel was dominated by quite stylish Russian and German

speaking tourists enjoying the sun but with a smattering of French and English voices around. A few young couples with kids but as it was school time the majority of guests were aged 50+.

Enjoyed excellent meals at the Italian & Chinese restaurants - very classy with super table ware and with great food at similar prices to the "International Buffet" at Cafe Kranzer.

Our bedroom had been redecorated and although only of medium size was perfectly adequate for a beach break.

The bathroom was overdue for a major refurb- I counted 36 chips in the bath enamel!

Two new hotels are being built on Ajman beach but the nearest is 1000m away and we were not disturbed by any noise or works.

Would we stay here again-probably but would prefer a new bath.

after a brief visit to the kempinski last year my wife and i had to try the full two weeks experience. money well spent! as soon as we arrived the staff were so helpful. we could not wait for our breakfast to see if it was as great as last year and it was. we were staying on the 8th floor which gives spectacular views of the whole complex. we chose liesure club but in hindsight executive club would have been better as there is a big difference in price and i do not think you get much more for your money. ramadam started half way through the holiday but we knew this and wanted to embrace thier culture. all the staff are very kind and will assist you with pleasure. being ramadam the hotel was not very busy through the day, the clean and blissfull beach was very quiet, the way we love it! the resturants are very good and averagely priced, drinks are not cheap, and remember the service charge of 15% which i think should be capped at some level. this is not a good hotel base to travel back and forward to dubai,the traffic in sharjah is horrific. the temperature was always around 40oc, to hot to do much unless it envolved an air conditioned taxi which are very cheap. ther was some works while we were there but we really didnt notice it. if you chose this hotel say hello to the lovely resident cats and peackoks. my favourite time was in sabbellas restuarant, all the way from scotland to get the best lasagne i have had, my only problem i had, even as a smoker, was the smoke in the sport bars, but the ten pin bowling made up for it. we will return someday.

We've just returned from a lovely two week stay at the Kempinski Hotel in Ajman.

Every member of staff was very helpful and friendly and we were treated like royalty!

While some building work was going on, our room was quiet and well furnished. The work in the communial areas didn't really affect us, however the hotel manager still offered us a couple of free dinners and massages.

It was a bit of a distance to leave the pool to go the 7th floor to get your free food and snacks - but they were happy for you to take some away with you.

The only downside i would say is the travelling distance to Dubai. Sometimes it took nearly 2 hours due to traffic, however you only pay for the distance not the time. With petrol in the UAE at only 12p a litre - taxi's are very cheap!

Most of the hotel restuarants were great and were very reasonable by western prices, however you could get cheaper locally. The Indian restaurant was not up to the standard of the others and didn't offer any variety on the menu.

If you want a classy and relaxing beach or pool holiday where you can guarantee the weather then this is the place for you to go!

This was a surprise for me from my husband this past summer.

The Kempinski Ajman is a beautiful hotel. Our room was on the executive floor, which is in most hotels a good thing. However, with just bad timing, the executive floor lounge was being renovated, so in order to see the concierge or have a snack or drink, we had to go down to the main floor of the hotel rather than just two doors down. This is, however, not a permanent state of affairs, and the ersatz lounge was set up rather well. The concierge was most helpful in booking our activities, which included a dinner cruise on a Dhow and the Desert Safari. The only complaint that I have with the executive lounge is rather minor, but I wanted to order a glass of wine outside the time when they serve the free drinks, and despite obviously having the wine in the fridge just behind the counter, it was not possible. I was told that I would have to wait the half hour until it would be served free. However, since we had to leave by then to catch the transportation for our tour, that was not a viable alternative. I was willing to pay for the drink, and still do not understand the difficulty this presented the young attendant in the lounge. That said, on the next day, we were there for the snacks and drinks in the afternoon, and it was really very nice. It was a sufficient lunch for us!

The private beach is an amazing thing: Not one person walking along selling coconuts or watches or whatever. Only very nice attendants bringing around trays of fruit and cold towels for your refreshement, all compliments of the hotel. There is a cart on the beach at all times offering cold drinks.

We ate only breakfast in the hotel, which was a very extensive and nicely done buffet. However, we had to wait quite a while for a table on one of the mornings. We were asked to sit at a table just outside the restaurant to wait, but then were obviously forgotten. I had to remind the hostess that we were waiting after I saw her seat two other couples. The service for the buffet was only average. I think that the wait staff was shorthanded or perhaps just not well trained...when I asked for salt, my waitress took the shaker from the chef who was preparing eggs, and I think that he couldn't find another available shaker either. Shouldn't happen in a five star hotel.

From what I saw of the hotel, it seems that all rooms have a direct ocean view. The check in was very nice; we were greeted with a cold towel and a cool drink to refresh ourselves before taking care of the details. A nice touch.

One last tip...skip the Dhow cruise, but don't miss the Desert Safari!

Stayed with my husband from 24/03 until 31/03. We wanted to unwind and relax and the Ajman Kempinski fitted the bill.

We wanted to go to Ajman as it is cheaper than Dubai. The hotel has a fantastic, long sandy beach. From the parasols to the water there are 20-30 meters so kids have lots of opportunities for sand castle buildings. It was mainly occupied by Russians (very quiet bunch, kids not heard at all). If you book a club leisure room you will be given a choice between a free spa treatment/ayurvedic massage/buffet dinner which was nice plus access to a very civilised lounge where you can get snacks (pitta bread, hummous, mini sandwiches)/drinks/free internet access all day and alcoholic drinks for free from 5-7 pm.

(incidentally, we ruled out Sharjah because it is a "dry" emirate, where alcohol is not allowed).

Breakfast was excellent and diversified, with prompt service. I liked that they did not dismantle the buffet at 11.00 on the dot for us latecomers.

Overall, the place was extremely clean and I did not suffer from a single mosquito bite (despite forgetting the repellent spray).

There is a good choice for dinner : Bukhara (excellent Indian), Hai tao (OK chinese), Sabella (OK italian, a bit pricey but avoid pizzas as they do not look italian at all - I am originally from Italy and I know my culinary stuff) and the always trustworthy Buffet restaurant, open 24 hours a day.

If you want to pop over to Dubai (as we did one day), it takes about 30-40 min drive and the taxi fare is about 60-70 dirhams (less than 10 pounds).

I would definetely come back again.

Spent 6 nights at Ajman Kempinski with girlfriend rather than the building sites of Jumeirah or Dubai Marina. We wanted a hotel with a beach and choice of dining options. Both delivered above expectations. The beach is soft powder sand with plenty loungers, thatched sun shades, bar/cafe and mobile bar! There are several shower points to wash off salt water and the adjacent swimming pool has another bar and cafe - look out for the family of peacocks wandering the grounds. The beach also runs a members beach club for non-residents and so it is much busier on the weekend days of friday and saturday. At this time of year the surf regularly increases about noon so sometimes the water is unsafe for swimming but great for wave jumping as long as you are aware of the undertow created. We had a couple of very calm days too. Water sports and activities are available incl. jet-skis, windsurfing etc. No snorkelling off the beach as very little to see other than sand. There is a small, privately run scuba diving centre at the hotel but I gave up trying to get a dive with them and had a day out on the east coast with Al Boom Diving where there is much better diving compared with the Dubai/Sharjah/Ajman coast which has been badly affected by the Palms, World and hotel constructions - sometimes only a few feet visibility. ( a meter taxi from hotel to Al Aqah cost AED165 or hotel car cost AED275 and takes 1hr 40 mins or Al Boom bus from Dubai for AED150 return)

The hotel has a free bus service to Sharjah, Blue Souk, Deira City Centre Mall, Gold Souk and non-stop back to hotel departing at 0930/1200/1530/1800/2030 and taking approx. 2hrs 30 mins for the whole circuit. It is operated on a first come-first served basis and the last one back can be very busy - the bus carries roughly 30 people. Plan your day out carefully as the traffic is normally extremely bad most of the day going to horrendous in the rush hours (approx 6.30 a.m.- 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.- very late). A taxi ride to downtown Bur Dubai/Deira costs from AED45 to 55 depending on how long you sit in traffic and can take from 30 mins to over 2 hours! To Jumeirah for Burj Al Arab/Wild Wadi cost AED80 early afternoon and took 1hr 30mins. Car hire is also available from a desk in the hotel but I am not sure of the cost as I don't drive a car - don't even think of riding a motorbike here.

Other hotel leisure facilities include a spa, gym, Ayurveda Massage centre and tenpin bowling. There is a small shopping arcade in the hotel.

There are a variety of eating options available. The main restaurant is buffet style for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has themed dinner buffets such as Asian, seafood or Arabic a few nights a week and a champagne brunch buffet on fridays. There is also an Indian Restaurant serving authentic dishes and eaten by hand. An apron is provided in case of hand/mouth co-ordination malfunctions and we did see one group cheating with utensils. The food here was fantastic and nothing like the Indian take-away fare back in the UK. They will make your dish as spicy as you wish so do not be brave and say you like your food hot as it will be volcanic! There are Italian and Chinese a la carte restaurants too but we ran out of time to sample these. The buffet meals cost about AED140 excl beverages and the a la carte main dishes cost from AED50-100 approximately. Add on extra courses, sundries and drinks and it is not cheap but you can pay a lot more in some of the Dubai establishments. More informal eating options are the pool and beach cafes serving snacks such as steak sandwiches, salads, burgers and ice-cream during the day and the World Cup Sports Bar serving snacks and light meals upto fish and chips and other British pub fare along with a reasonable range of drinks. This bar gets busier at weekends and when sporting events are televised on the pub's screens. Local non-residents frequent it due to the non-availability of drinking establishments in neighbouring alcohol-free Sharjah. There is also a cafe serving tea, coffee and pastries etc. Room service is available 24 hours but with much more limited selection outside restaurant opening hours.

We enjoyed our stay at the Ajman Kempinski and although it advertises itself as a 5 star hotel it is closer to a 4 star resort. The service was excellent and the staff very friendly. The only bad mark I would give it is for the rooms. We chose the "cheaper" Deluxe room which was smaller than some budget hotel rooms I've stayed in in the UK. The fittings were not "Deluxe" and the bathroom was a standard affair. An in-room safe is provided and every room has a beautiul sea view with a balcony. The quiet, efficient air-con was hardly needed at this time of year but would be essential in the height of summer - almost 50 degrees Celsius and very humid. Despite my remarks about the room, a similar room at a similar hotel in Jumeirah would probably have cost an extra 50%.

If you are planning staying here be aware that Ajman is about to be bitten by the building bug and there are already many new beachfront developments starting including right next to the hotel. However, we did not hear any noise from them while in our room or on the beach or at the pool area.

My overall thought is that this hotel is ideal for a mainly relaxing break with only the occasional visit into Dubai. If you want to experience the bright lights, shopping and exhaust pollution of Dubai stay in one of the many Deira/Bur Dubai/Creekside hotels to avoid the traffic hell. Jumeirah and Dubai Marina are situated on the opposite side of Dubai from Ajman but have similar traffic problems and lots of building works so it really all depends what you plan doing during your vacation as to where wil be ideal to stay. Wherever you stay, enjoy the many-headed beast of Dubai and the U.A.E.

In general a great resort to visit. Would thoroughly recommend a stay here.

Couple of points:

Make sure the meter is running for the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel - we were charged £25.00 for a £10.00 journey.

Don't waste your money on the Leisure Club rooms. The only benefit is a lounge where it is impossible to get service. I must add that this was the only area where service was lacking.

Check whether you will be there during Ramadan. No drinking, smoking or eating in public is allowed during this time until 5.30 in the evening. This means that the pool bar and restaurant are shut until Ramadan is finished.

My boyfriend and I have just come back from a weeks stay in the Kempinski. We went bed and breakfast. We arrived at the hotel and our suitcases were taken straight away by the bell hop. Then we checked in, the guy that served us was more than helpful, he showed us to our room and he told us about our room and how it was newley furnished so we were lucky. He also offered to tell us about Ramadam however we were already aware as we spent a week in Ras Al Khaimah the week before.

The room was lovely, we had a really nice view of the pool and better still the beach and sea. There was aircon in the room and two bottles of complimentary water which you got every day. The rooms were cleaned everyday and the complimentary stuff was topped up each day. In the evening someone turned your bed down and put a chocolate on your pillow.

The breakfast buffet was really nice and served til 11am so we didn't have to get up early. There was a bit of everything, including, hot breakfast, fruit, meats and cheese.

We spent most of our stay at the private beach. Some days we had to get there early to get a sunbed with some shade. The hotel give you towels to take on the beach so if your whole stay is at the hotel, don't bring any towels with you, it's a waste of suitcase space. The sea was nice and warm, not really the place to go swimming if you wanted to cool off. There was a guy who would ride up and down the beach selling drinks and snacks.

Be warned a large bottled of water costs 13AED which is nearly £2. If you go to the local shopping mall you could get a large bottle of water for 0.85AED which is just short of 16p. We had about 3 evening meals in the hotel because it was quite expensive and the food wasn't really anything fancy. They have an asian buffet and an indian one both were ok but were 130AED (over £15 without drinks) or less each. Considering we could have a three course meal for 25AED (just over £3) for both of us at a local indian restaurant and it was really nice we decided to eat out the rest of our stay.

Because it was Ramadam whilst we were there, two of the bars were shut and the other two didn't open until around 6pm. One thing to note is that no matter what you pay for in the hotel there will be a 15% service charge, even if you buy a beer from the bar they will slap that service charge on. It's a real shame because you want to tip some people but when someone has already taken a 15% charge you don't want to give anymore money.

There isn't an airport bus but the hotel will organise a car for 130AED or you can book a taxi which will be a lot cheaper. The hotel has a bus that will take you to some of the sights close to the hotel and also goes into Dubai however it only goes one way. So if you go to the Blue Souk in Sharjah and then get the bus back to the hotel, it goes all they way to Dubai and then turns back to go to the hotel so you're better off getting a taxi back to the hotel.

If I was going to give you any tips, get a taxi to the City Centre mall in Ajman, they have a supermarket so you can stock up on water and anything else you might need. They also have an eating area in the mall with several takeaways if you want a cheap dinner one night. They have a cinema too. If you would like a cheap and tasty meal go to the 'Indian Restuarant' which is next to the supermarket called Choitrams, just ask a taxi to take you to Choitrams and you can't miss the restaurant should cost you about 5 - 10AED to get there it's not far. The restaurant looks like a cafe but the food is really nice and the people in there are really friendly.

When you get in a taxi make sure they put the meter on, however the ones that have meters say that if they don't put the meter on you will get the journey for free. We nearly got scammed at a different hotel where the guy didn't put on the meter and we asked him to but he said that because we were from the hotel there is a pre-agreed tariff. The tariff was more expensive that if we had the meter on! We found that some of the ones where we pre-agreed a charge before we got in were sometimes cheaper than the ones with meters.

It's ok for women to wear shorts and sleeveless tops in the hotel, whilst you are outside of the hotel it is recommended that you wear something that covers your legs and shoulders otherwise you are being disrespectful to the locals. It might be that someone approaches you if you are wearing shorts and a vest top outside of the hotel, it's better to be safe than sorry. As for the men, wear what you like!! If you go during Ramadam, you can't eat or drink outside of the hotel between dusk and dawn. What we did was take a bottle of water and then go to the toilet and have a drink. It's ok for small children to eat and drink during the day.

I hope if you go to Ajman and stay at the Kempinski that you enjoy it as much as we did.

Have spent 4 days in Ajman Kempinski earlier this year. Had one of the large suites where the only bad thing to mention was the poor quality of TV signal on the large Plazma TV. Definitely recommend the Indian restaurant for the quality of food - just be avare that unless you ask you will have to eat with your hands.

Definitely try the SPA - very relaxing. Friednly but a little slow staff.

Loved the beach here - well maintained and plenty of sunbeds which were well spaced so it didn't feel crowded. The hotel is situated in Ajman, around 30 minutes form Dubai. There is nothing worth seeing in Ajman and nothing to walk to in the vicinity of the hotel. We took the complimentary shuttle bus to Dubai one day but otherwise remained in the resort.

The rooms are fine - we took a club room on the 6th floor. This was nicely furnished and had a great view but was badly let down by the bathroom which was old - tiny bath tub, mold around the seals etc.

The biggest disappointment was the hotel restaurants - apart from the buffet restaurant where you also take breakfast, there was just a Chinese and an Indian restaurant. The Italian restaurant had been closed. For 7 nights this became quite boring and the menus in the restaurants are not very inspired and the value is not great. Service was slow - one night in the Chinese restaurant we waited 40 minutes for our food to arrive. There is a coffee shop in the lobby but this is closed in the evening so if you want coffee after dinner you have to take this in the smoke filled bar.

For club room guests the club lounge provides complimentary soft drinks and a very restricted range of canapes from 11am to 8pm. Alcoholic drinks are offered from 5-7pm. Crazy that this facility isn't open longer for coffee etc after dinner. The space is small and the whole affair is a bit half-hearted. We felt the hotel should invest in this properly or drop it all together.

Staff were mixed - some friendly, others not. Reception was very poor on restaurant ideas outside the hotel and we waited 20 minutes on arrival at 2am before an agent was free to check us in. More positively the Aryuvedic massages are worth a go and the gym and spa area was good.

All in all, not bad and not great. If you're after a few days by the beach with the chance to head in to Dubai for an evening or two then this could be for you. Because of the limited dining choices both in the hotel and outside, I'd receommend no more than about 4 nights here. After 7 we were certainly ready to leave.

The hotel is under building work so the grand reception u cant use and part of the pool area is also been worked on, (think they finish in october)

good points

The beach is lovely, staff great, buffet resturant and the room are nice, sport bar & bowling also ok, if you want to have a relaxing time and not do much just stay in hotel place for u

bad points

it will take you over an hour at anytime off night or day to get into the main part dubai (emirtaes mall and the burg), if u want 2 go out in dubai where everything is, this isnt the hotel for u

your away from everything so u have 2 buy everything in hotel, choc bar £2

This is a pleasent hotel in an isolated location. It is mainly geared towards russians and there were lots of them! On check in our room was already occupied but this was quickly rectified and we were given an executive room with lounge benefits. The place is great for families with a kiddy pool and also the beach but watch out for jelly fish,. The only problem we had was getting about to sharjah to the blue souk and dubai the hotel had a bus to get you there but to get back you had to go via dubai and taxis were cheap but in short supply. I would say this hotel is ideal for a few days away from the hustle and bustle of dubai but there isn't much to do other than the hotel which capitilises on its captive market.

great for familes though and I would go back

Although slightly long in the tooth, the Kempinski is a good quality hotel with an excellent beach front free from less salubrious locals.

The room on th efith floor was comfortable, though the hotel was teeming with rather noisy Russian tourists who liked to drink in the corridors outside there rooms so was noisy on some nights.

We didnt eat at the hotel, but the breakfast choice was good and is served till 11.00am, but at peak times you may not get a table straight away or you can sit outside - nice, but rather chilly in January!

The bar is VERY expensive - a bottle of Heineken around £5 though the ambience is good and they have a local band (at the time of writing 'Da Funk') who get the crowd going with their soul/funk/jazz repertoire.

The spa is nice -but again, quite expensive. A mans facial and woman's facial/eye treatment cost £100, though it was nicely done. Waiting staff also proved helpful and friendly.

I would recommend the hotel, BUT - a few words of caution. Firstly, dont bother booking the hotel to get you from the airport. The charged 150 DMS, but we took a hotel taxi back to the airport (not pre-booked) and paid just 50 DMS.

One night we went on the superb Bateaux Dubai - and I cant praise this dinner cruise enough - but on leaving several of the waiting cabs we approached didnt want to take us back to the hotel as the roads were congested! One cab driver said he would do it for 3000 DMS!!!! And these are official Dubai taxis - so if you are doing this excursion, or any other that requires a late night in Dubai I strongly recommend pre booking a cab home.

Where the hotel dropped significantly in my estimation was in their choice of excursions partner - Planet Tours. We booked two excursions with them through the hotel. A hour city tour and a Desert Safari. The city tour involved us being picked up at 12.30pm and then being bussed around Dubai picking up more passengers and then being dropped outside the Islamic Arts Centre - a very pricing gallery masquerading as a museum. We were left there for a while while some more passengers were collected and then dropped at the beach for another half an hour while the main tour bus turned up.

The actual tour began at 3.00pm, and its first stop - the Islamic Arts Centre!!! They must be giving a great kickback! We then were taken to a mosque that we couldnt go in, a petrol station stop for the loo and snacks, then a very fast drive round some of the big skyscrapers (but none of the ones on the river front), then a blink and you'll miss it view of the royal palace entrance, then Dubai Museum (that was quite good) and the Gold souk. A very poor, shambolically organised tour that was not worth the money we paid for it.

Fearing a repeat performance, we asked the hotel staff to confirm that the next days Dune Safari would not start with a tour of Dubai picking up other passengers first, which they confirmed. However, the tour bus arrived and did exactly that! We were then taken to the desert (actually, not all that far from the main road!) and were driven very fast through a kind of 'scare the tourists' trail.

If you like roller coasters, you'll probably love this, but if like me you get car sick, you'll HATE it. AFter 30 mins, I felt very ill, but the man from Planet told me 'tough luck' when I asked to be taken back to the hotel and was exceptionally rude. I had to make a considerable fuss to get them to take me directly to the camp which made me, my wife and probably any other guests in earshot very uncomfortable. The tour manager had earlier been filming and I asked her not to film me in my distress, a request I found out later she blatantly ignored.

A rather tacky arabic style encampment served as our base for the next few hours which offered a camel ride (about 30 seconds worth) but the promised horses for the horse riding were no-where to be seen. After a reasonable buffet dinner a rather eldely belly dancer struted her stuff before we were all bundled back into the jeeps for the drive home. NOT worth the £50 each we had paid and I would certainly never book an excursion with this company again.

On checking out I complained about the tours and how poor the companies service had been and how the hotel failed to advise us of the violent nature of the Jeep ride and was greeted by complete and utter indifference by the checkout staff, who clearly had had little to no training in how to handle complaints or keep their customers happy.

Four nights here cost £900 with the two tours, some bar drinks and the spa treatment- not cheap - but it was the front desk staff that really spoiled the visit for me, in what is otherwise a nice and well run hotel. Customer service training is required! And a new tour partner.

We have just returned from a week at the Kempinski over new year, and although we enjoyed it, it was definately not a five star resort

The room was a huge disappointment quite small with a great view but very shabby bathroom which had a tatty shower curtain

The staff were fantastic and couldnt do enough the restaurants were also good, but at that time of the year the pool was completely in the shadow of the hotel all day which was a shame because i love sitting by the pool. The beach however was great, comfy beds and great service

It was definately too far from dubai for more than a couple of trips

altogether it was a bit of a mixed bag, great for awayfrom it all holidays but not the luxury it proclaims

I have to start by saying that the hotel was good value for money in what seems like an overpriced destintation. This was a stop off on a return journey from Sydney. We were looking for some R&R before returning to the UK. It provided great value and a good location.

The rooms were clean but small. Not up to the standard of other hotels I've stayed in (Le Meriedien for example). The pool area was good, it had a great beach, nice bar and great views of the gulf. Although the influx of locals & russians at the weekend spolit the peace and quiet.

The food was great, service was good and the presentation excellent. Everyone was friendly apart from the receptionists, who were most unhelpful. We had to complain to get the room we had booked and the service was very slow.

If you want somewhere cheap to stay then pick this hotel. However, it's nowhere near 5 star and there are better places to stay. Shop around.

Before visiting the Kempinski, I’d read all the Tripadvisor comments and thought I was prepared. On arrival, the first thing that struck us was the extent of the building works in reception. No grand entrance to greet us – we were shown in through a side door. The lobby is spectacular and will be incredible when completed.

The building works do affect the stay. They must be nearly finished by now, but when we stayed, the entire first floor was closed (– which includes the Chinese restaurant), 2 of the lifts were blocked off, the corridor between reception and the beach club was covered in cardboard on the floor and was being tiled the whole time we were there – which meant running the gauntlet of workmen to get to the beach or the pool as that was the only access not affected by either the building works or Ramadan. They were also re-tiling the flooring beside the pool which meant half of the poolside was roped off. From our room we couldn’t hear any of the internal works until the last day of the holiday, but my friend staying in a different room was woken up by the drilling shaking the whole hotel – not good when she wasn’t feeling well. To be honest, the works are more irritating than distressing, and it didn’t spoil the stay, what particularly annoyed me was that we weren’t told at any point about the building works prior to arriving. We were given a free teddy bear with the catchy slogan “thanks for bearing with us” on the last night, but as a hotel manager myself, I know that you should contact guests, even if the works won’t affect them, to let them know.

The building works are desperately needed as the hotel is looking tired. Admittedly, we were in the most basic rooms, but 5* they are not. 2 single beds in a twin room is unusual in this day and age, and although the housekeeping staff were absolutely lovely, the cleanliness standards were less than great – a deliberately dropped hair on the bathroom floor was still there 3 days later. The bathrobes looked like they had been there since time began. Oh, and a word of warning on building, Kempinski is building apartments on the other side of the road from the hotel, and apparently they will have access to the beach.

My biggest issue was with the Reception staff. The guy on reception when we arrived was delightful. Friendly, helpful and great fun. Unfortunately, I suspect their day receptionists were picked more for their appearance than their customer service skills. Asking one of them for directions to the Karama Souk he actually pulled a face and referred us to the “concierge” who had less local knowledge than I had gleaned from the guidebooks. Communication was a huge problem. We were told the shops in the Blue Souk were open from 2pm when she meant until 2pm. Luckily we mentioned this to the lovely lifeguard who put us right – and saved us from a wasted trip. We also had some confusion over the picnic we ordered. We wanted to eat it on the beach but were told that because it was Ramadan that wasn’t allowed. However, you can eat from the little van that chugs up and down the beach. When we mentioned this to reception we just got blank looks and no help at all. Eventually we were “allowed” to eat this in Café Kranzler – and I do mean “allowed” we were greeted by the restaurant manager and explained we’d been told we had to eat our picnic in the restaurant and the reply was “no, you don’t have to, we are letting you” and she proceeded to put us in a corner and the service was appalling. As someone on here has mentioned, the reception staff are lovely until you have a problem and then either they mysteriously don’t understand you, or they just don’t care enough to help you. At no point was there an apology, and it was their fault as we had said we wanted it on the beach when we ordered it. From that point on, no-one asked us how our stay had been!

The rest of the staff are what makes the hotel deserve its 5* rating. The lifeguards, room service guys, housekeeping staff were all a delight and the staff in Sabella’s (The Italian restaurant) recognised us after the first night and made sure we got our “usual” table, remembered what we’d been doing, remembered what we were drinking and were funny without being over familiar and were just fantastic. The lifeguard brought aloe vera for sunburn, the housekeeping staff provided us with extra water without us having to ask for it, the room service guy was very chatty and everyone you met said hello with a big smile.

The Laguna spa staff were also lovely, though the spa a little disappointing – at the end of a corridor next to the gift shop, the treatment room I was in was a wall of glass onto the corridor, covered by curtains, but there were gaps, and you could hear people on the other side of it which stopped me relaxing totally. The room was also a little cold, and the towel was totally threadbare! The massage itself was lovely though.

The hotel is a great distance from Dubai centre, which we were aware of, however we felt we were conned by every taxi driver – either going a very long route, or saying they know where they were going and then getting lost. After the second trip into Dubai, we decided not to go back in and just enjoyed the beach.

Having said all that, it was a lovely stay. The beach makes it. 500m of beautiful sand and wonderfully warm sea. It was very quiet while we were there which was great. The loungers are regularly swept, someone comes along every day with ice cold towels, the beach towels are huge and in great supply – although having to sign them in and out was a bit like being back at school!

Overall? I wouldn't pay to go back, and I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry Kempinski, your reception team just aren't up to scratch. I was really disappointed.

Just returned from 6 nights at Kempinski Hotel.

Our experience was a bad one.

Refurbishment work is taking place at hotel which we were not made aware of resulting in floor one being out of bounds for duration of stay. Only bars available in hotel were Sports Bar (very busy and full of smoke) and Cosmic Bowling - an area where games are available for families. This area also has a bar.

We were approached on two different occasions by two different ladies - one knocking on our room door late at night and handing my partner a mobile phone asking if this was his telephone number! According to the hotel this was a drunken/disorientated guest! Nice. However the locals that drink in this bar tell a very different story. Security guards are evident at each corner of the bar areas which in itself is intimidating. Cosmic Bowling bar had a lot of ladies drinking in this bar who were not shy of approaching the gentleman?

We raised the issue with the hotel who are very defensive and sent rather adrupt responses to our complaint.

If you stay at the hotel and do not wish to give good feedback it is probably not worth completing feedback form as the hotel does not want to know!

Hotel has offered us a "gesture" of 2 free nights in any of their chain of hotels in UAE - we have declined gesture. We would not revisit Kempinski in Ajman for reasons mentioned above.

Hotel itself is average.

Location of beach area nice.

Food and drink expensive and 20% is added to your bill - 15% local government tax and 5% service charge.

Cleaning staff very pleasant.

My wife and I were supposed to spend 3 days at this hotel. In fact, we shortened it to one night only.

I am working in Azerbaijan and we are used to go to Dubai as our monthly escape to the sunshine.

Basically the standards for hotels in Dubai are top class. But this was not the case at the Kempinski hotel Ajman.

From the start we noticed that the hotel was mainly working with Russian customers and probably tour operators.

Every thing is geared towards a minimum of service and a maximum of profitability.

We wanted to go to the blue souk 20 mn away from the hotel. Going there was fine. Coming back was a nightmere. We spent virtually an additional 2hrs in the shuttle bus because it went to Dubai to get other guests (let's say it would be more appropriate to say "customers") and back to the hotel. The driver did not care asking us where did we want to go and whether it would be more appropriate to go back with a taxi. We were the only one to board the bus at the blue souk.

After reading all the comments written in Tripadvisor; my husband an myself decided to choose the Ajman Kempinski hotel as destination of our holidays. Everything started the day we decided to book our stay with the hotel's own website: we e-mailed them and they only came back to us 4 days after because we decided to contact the reception desk ( they also changed the rates and we had to complaint about it asking for a room upgrade). We also booked with the hotel a transfer from the airport to the hotel... but they forgot to pick us up the day of our arrival and, when I called the hotel from the airport, they found it very funny and they didn't apologise. We were told to take a taxi from the airport, and they would pay the bill. Upon check-in, nobody seemed to remember they offered this. We did a late checking, aprox. midnight but we didn't receive any welcome drink or similar as I have read on the below comments of other people's experiences. Furthermore, we had free access to the K Longue but it was a bit of disappointing (some of the staff didn't even know where it was), you nearly had to knee on the floor to have a drink and the food they offered there was really tight.

The breakfast was average and not for a 5 stars hotel standard (very bad coffee....). We were there in Ramadan and we went to the Ramadan Tent a few times: the buffet was nice but not the "menu a la carte" after 20.00 which was composed by the leftovers of the buffet.

The swimming pool was quite small for the size of the hotel and although the hotel was half full, it was difficult to find a place. So, we decided to go to the beach which was great.

The client services team was useless, we booked a safari with them but they weren't able to give us any explanation about what the safari was all about. We also asked them to recomend us for a local good restaurant in Ajman and they couldn't help us at all. They asked a taxi driver to bring us to one... with Russian gastronomy.

The day we left, with our room the check out could be done at 16.00 but instead, we did it at 19.00. The receptionist told us that they usully charged guest for late check out with 300 AED but they would charge us with the full rate as they wanted to do so ( the only explanation received was that it was written on the system). We are frequent travellers and we have never,ever, seen such unprofessionality. I could understand it from a low standard hotel but not from a Kempinski.

We only recomend you the hotel because of the location but not for the service provided. The hotel is overrated and doesn't deserve 5 stars. The publicity on the website doesn't match with reality, like with many things in Dubai, so don't believe the hype. We will not come back.

Sadly the Hotel flatters to deceive. As has been previously mentioned, this is certainly not a 5 Star Hotel. The rooms are small and only adequately decorated unless you upgrade to Leisure class. The buffet food is average however, the Indian and Chinese restaurants are very good. The beach is excellant but the service at the pool side restaurant was appalling.

Overall a disapointment for what you pay.

BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!

If you are considering booking to go here, to the Kempinski Hotel Ajman, then DON'T! Change your hotel and stay in Dubai somewhere else. The hotel has MAJOR construction work going on in their hotel and they are not telling guests before they arrive. The work is noisy and disturbs you when lying by the pool. It can also be clearly heard when in the Cafe's. You also have to walk up and down stairs to get to the pool area- totally unsuitable for people with disabilities.,Also, the restauarants are very expensive. Once you are here, thee is nnowhere else to eat unless you take a taxi to Ajman city centre and get a fast food takeaway.

The hotel are also failing to tell holiday booking agents of the work being carried out.

it is all boarded up inside the hotel and, if like me, the photos of the grand hall swayed you to book, then look at my photos taken a few days ago. They will change your mind!.

I complained to no less than 5 people when I was there and all they did was take my room number and say they understood how I felt, but NOTHING was done and I am currently trying to get compensation. However, the hotel are being extremely difficult about this but I have to say, EXPEDIA are being fantastic and they are helpful. SAVE YOUR MONEY, GO TO DUBAI- THERE ARE BETTER PLACES TO GO WITH PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE. KEMPINSKI AJMAN ALSO FAIL TO TELL GUESTS THAT IT HAS THE LAGUNA BEACH CLUB WHICH IS OPEN TO LOCAL PEOPLE PAYING FOR THE CLUB AND THEY INFILTRATE THE PLACE AND TAKE OVER AT THE WEEKEND (FRI-SUN). YOU CANT GET ON THE BOWLING LANES FOR THEM AND YOU HAVE TO PUT UP WITH FAMILIES AND THEIR NANNIES OVERCROWDING THE PLACE. THEY DONT TELL YOU THIS IN THEIR BROCHURES!

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GO ELSWHERE.

As a business traveller I stay in many hotels, in various countries with varying degrees of sophistication. One thing that always impresses me is that people usually do their best to offer quality service.

However, there is always an exception! At the Kempinski in Ajman, I checked in to find no tea/coffee making facilities, this is not unusual, so I ordered a tray for my room to be refreshed on a daily basis (at a charge of 48 AED). The tray was ordered 10 times, it finally arrived but was never refreshed on subsequent days, house keeping left sour milk and dirty cups in my room.

The air conditioning unit began to leak water, I reported to reception, called maintenance, and even asked housekeeping for towels to mop up the water, nobody came and the result was I slipped and upon return to England my doctor confirms a broken toe.

There was the inevitable fight at checkout when they insisted on charging me for tea that was never delivered. if you are looking for a hotel where staff take responsibility - then don't go here!